There may be trouble ahead but they aren’t keeping holiday-makers at home. In fact, the travel business is reporting continuing growth. Sarah Barrell explains.

Credit crunch, economic slowdown, whatever we dislike to call it, the current gloomy financial climate has not seemed to dampen British spirits as much as predicted – at least when it comes to booking our holidays.

In the past three penny-pinching months, travel is the only consumer services sector to report growth in business volume (according to a report from the Confederation of Business Industry Survey in May), revealing that holidays are valued higher than other luxury commodities even when our disposable income is under pressure.

Zighy Bay is the Oman’s latest luxury offering. But, asks Sarah Barrell, will guests get any sense of the country it’s in? 

Oman: it’s the big buzz. This sultanate on the Arabian Peninsula is the current travel hot spot, yet few people really know much about it. A trip to Six Senses Hideaway, Zighy Bay – the latest in a new generation of high-end hotels crowning Oman’s pristine northern coast – while blissful, won’t do much to enlighten you either.

This self-proclaimed “hideaway”, a two-hour dusty drive from Dubai – or five from the Omani capital, Muscat – sells itself on being remote. Sitting on the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, an exclave of Oman, separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates, the hotel is further cut off from civilisation by the near-impenetrable Hajar mountains, from which guests can paraglide 1,600ft down to check in.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/middle-east/at-this-oman-hideaway-you-can-feel-cut-off-851858.html

Independent on Sunday travel section

As the US Open tees off this week, DJ Spoony explains why his love of golf has given him a passion for travelling.

I started playing golf in 2001, and though it has only been a few years, the game has enhanced my life in ways I would never have imagined. It’s given me the chance to travel to places I wouldn’t have visited and meet some really inspirational people. I’m generally a sports addict and when I was young I used to watch golf on TV, but it was only when Tiger Woods appeared that I thought, wow, I’ve got to try a bit of this.

I still love watching sports but now I get to see things live. I’m going to the Ryder Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, this year, which I’m really excited about. I’ve travelled a fair bit to see golf in South Africa. They love their golf down there and the country has produced some of the world’s highest-ranking golfers: Ernie Eels, Gary Player, Bobby Locke.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/dj-spoony-a-day-on-the-fairways-a-night-on-the-tiles-842341.html

Green-minded travellers are set to enjoy some of the best holidays on offer this year. Sarah Barrell picks her favourites

Recent statistics may have warned of “green fatigue” as this country’s populace grows confused about carbon footprints and weary of natural disasters, but environmentally aware projects abound in the world of travel.

And far from being hair-shirt, they make for some of the highlights of holidaying in 2008. From expanding cycle networks to new national parks, the following ideas reveal that there’s a growing choice of ideas for the green-minded traveller.

Independent on Sunday travel section: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/on-the-eco-trail-from-madagascar-to-new-york-769837.html